My Favorites

30 April 2012

Redemption Day by Steve O'Brien

From the Back Cover:

When Nick James is fired as a terrorism analyst for a US government contractor, he thinks he is having a bad day. Twenty-four hours later he has become the most wanted man in America. Trapped between his government and a terrorist group, his choices are few. One side wants him captured; the other wants him dead.

Many moons ago I reviewed Bullet Work by Steve O'Brien and, quite frankly, I wasn't fond of it. For some reason it just didn't resonate with me. When I was contacted to review another of his books, Redemption Day, the synopsis caught my interest and I decided to give the author another chance. Boy am I glad I did! Redemption Day is a hit! So for my review today, I am going to give you my Top 10 Hit List for Steve O'Brien's Redemption Day:

The set up. One of my pet peeves with political intrigue is that I often get lost in the set up. Steve does an excellent job of introducing the characters and setting up the background and tone of the story.

The characters. Each character gets his own chapter and has a very distinct voice. It makes it easy to become emotionally invested with each character as an individual.

The action. 'Edge of your seat' and 'fast moving' are the the terms I would use. It makes for some nail biting moments.

The flow. The story line moves smoothly from one place to the next. There are no jerky, sudden movements to slow you down.

Not too graphic. There is definitely violence - kind of necessary in this type of story - but it wasn't graphic enough to cause me to flinch.

The connections. The plot begins with a bunch of, seemingly, unrelated events happening to unrelated people. As the connections begin to emerge the story knits together beautifully.

The suspense. Mr. O'Brien has done a great job of building the suspense as the plot progresses. There are small breaks to allow the reader to catch her breath but then it takes up where it left off and the reader is back to holding her breath again.

Really bad, bad guys. I hate it when I am tempted to cheer for the bad guys. That doesn't happen here.

Strong female. Yup, there is one and you all know how I feel about that. If there's going to be a female, she better be strong. And that makes the romantic sub-plot a nice perk.

The ending. To avoid spoilers, that's all I'm going to say about that.

We all know nothing is perfect but the negatives about this one aren't worth mentioning. If you like political thrillers, I'd recommend Redemption Day.

A Taste from page 82:

Wind whipped Nick's sweatshirt. The roar from the oncoming train deafened him. The first subway car sped by, simulating a sideways movie, each frame, people standing and sitting on their way to work. If he stayed put, he was as good as captured. Realizing his only option, Nick climbed onto the cement stanchion; the train was slowing, which gave him his only chance.